HVC to contest poll
on its ownMandi, January 30
HVC chief Sukh Ram said here last night that the HVC would contest the forthcoming elections on its own. Setting at rest the surmises about a possible alliance with the Congress or the BJP, the HVC leader said it was now too late to enter into any understanding with the Congress which had been lingering on the issue unnecessarily.

Shimla reflects voting trend ?Shimla, January 30
With the assembly elections round the corner, political fever is catching up in Shimla. The Scandal Point house and other restaurants are the hot spots for political discussions: Supporters of various parties, particularly the BJP and the Congress, can be seen with their mobile phones glued to the ears, waiting anxiously for the latest from Delhi.

Decision on snapping ties with NDA deferredMandi, January 30
The HVC Parliamentary Board, which was to decide today about snapping its ties with the NDA Government at the Centre, deferred its decision for tomorrow probably in the wake of reports that last-minute efforts were being made in New Delhi by a section of the Congress leaders to enter into an alliance with the
HVC.

Shyama quits over denial of ticketNahan, January 30
Allotment of the BJP ticket for the forthcoming Assembly elections for all five seats in the district has invited sharp reactions from rival BJP groups and ticket-seekers have decided to contest against party candidates.

BACKGROUNDER
BJP, Cong factionalism to the foreShimla
With dissidence haunting the BJP and the Congress, the two main contenders for power, and the Himachal Vikas Congress
(HVC) struggling to retain its identity as the third political force, the election scene in the hill state has become hazy as never before.

Amarinder has ‘encroached’ upon land in HPShimla, January 30
Launching a fresh attack on Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, the state BJP said today that a leader whose own conduct had not been above board had no moral right to level charges against Chief Minister
P.K. Dhumal.

HVC plea to EC on tribal seatsShimla, January 30
The Himachal Vikas Congress (HVC) has urged the Election Commission to hold elections in three tribal constituencies along with the rest of the state.

Mahasabha to contest
20 seatsKangra, January 30
The All-India Hindu Mahasabha has decided to contest 20 seats in the state during the forthcoming assembly poll which include five in Kangra district followed by four in Bilaspur district.

Nurses hold demonstrationDharamsala, January 30Trained nurses alleged that despite assurances the state government had denied them job opportunities. They held a demonstration today.

Teacher dies in road mishapKangra, January 30A schoolteacher was killed on the spot and another person was seriously injured when their Maruti van collided with a parked tanker at Jhool village last night, the police said here today.

Mandi, January 30
HVC chief Sukh Ram said here last night that the HVC would contest the forthcoming elections on its own. Setting at rest the surmises about a possible alliance with the Congress or the BJP, the HVC leader said it was now too late to enter into any understanding with the Congress which had been lingering on the issue unnecessarily. The alliance with the BJP could not materialise because of the deadlock on two constituencies — Chachiot and Santokhgarh.

CLP leader Virbhadra Singh was the main stumbling block in the way of an alliance with the Congress even though many party leaders at the Centre and in the state were in favour of a pact with the HVC. Mr Sukh Ram said he could enter into an understanding with the like-minded parties.

Later talking to newspersons at the Circuit House, Mr Anil Sharma, HVC chief and Rajya Sabha member, said the main issue of the HVC in the forthcoming elections would be to make Himachal economically viable by harnessing its vast power and tourism potential. He expressed concern over the debt of Rs 15,000 crore of the state government.

Asked if the HVC was not equally accountable for the omissions and commissions of the BJP-HVC government, he denied it, adding that the HVC agenda had not been implemented. Asked why the HVC did not withdraw support from the BJP, he said, “We never wanted to be blamed for not allowing the government to complete its full term”.

Shimla, January 30
With the assembly elections round the corner, political fever is catching up in Shimla. The Scandal Point house and other restaurants are the hot spots for political discussions: Supporters of various parties, particularly the BJP and the Congress, can be seen with their mobile phones glued to the ears, waiting anxiously for the latest from Delhi.

However, old-timers are engaged in serious discussions about the infighting in the Congress and the BJP. Prospects of projecting Prem Kumar Dhumal as the Chief Minister and the Shanta Kumar factor in Kangra district. Also, they can be seen discussing the chief ministerial candidate in the Congress—Mr Virbhadra Singh or Ms Vidya Stokes.

Shimla houses residents of all 68 Assembly constituencies and thus reflects the trend of the state. The Mall road is thus the pulse of the state. some self-styled pollsters claim.

Even the traditional Himachali caps have not been spared by factional fighting. While the green caps depict the supporters and strength of Mr Virbhadra Singh, red caps are a symbol of HVC supremo Sukh Ram.

And the
Kulu caps depict the strength of Mr Dhumal and Mr Shanta Kumar. Interestingly, the Gandhi caps, the legacy of the Congress have been given a cold-shoulder by Congressmen.

Mandi, January 30
The HVC Parliamentary Board, which was to decide today about snapping its ties with the NDA Government at the Centre, deferred its decision for tomorrow probably in the wake of reports that last-minute efforts were being made in New Delhi by a section of the Congress leaders to enter into an alliance with the HVC.

An HVC spokesman said here this evening that the state executive committee today decided to withdraw support from the BJP Government. When a reporter questioned what was the big fun of withdrawing support after the dissolution of the assembly last evening, he said “our minister and chairpersons in the caretaker government have resigned”

The executive committee also decided to admit two former ministers — Mr Mansa Ram and Mr Prakash Chaudhary — into the HVC. These ministers had, on the direction of Mr Sukh Ram, joined the BJP in 1998 at the time of the formation of the alliance government for strategic reasons to avoid their defection into the Congress. A BJP activist from Kinnaur Ratna Manjri was also admitted into the BJP.

Hamirpur, January 30
There are 53 sensitive and 38 hyper-sensitive polling stations in Hamirpur district. Nadaun tops with 13 sensitive and 11 hyper-sensitive polling stations, followed by Nadaunta with 14 sensitive and seven hyper-sensitive booths.

Ms Anuradha Thakur, District Election Officer-cum-Deputy Commissioner, Hamirpur, said here today that Mewa (Reserved) had 11 sensitive and eight hyper-sensitive polling booths. There were seven sensitive and eight hyper-sensitive booths in Bamsan and eight sensitive and four hyper-sensitive booths in Hamirpur.

She said 3, 10, 110 voters would exercise their franchise in the five assembly constituencies in the district. Hamirpur tops the list with 65,412 voters, followed by Nadaunta with 65,344. There are 62,393 voters in Mewa (Reserved), 58,960 in Bamsan and 58,001 in Nadaun constituency, respectively.

She said these included 5,289 Defence personnel, who would exercise their franchise by post. Postal ballots would be despatched to them once the work of filing of nomination papers was completed.

She said 414 polling booths would be set up in the district and there were no polling stations with more than 1,000 voters. There were only three polling stations with more than 1,200 voters, followed by 179 polling stations with 751 to 1,200 voters, 172 with 501 to 750 voters and 60 booths with less than 501 voters.

She said the Sarahkar polling booth in Bamsan had the maximum of 1,325 voters and Jandral in Nadaunta had the minimum of 156 voters. One had to cover a distance of not more than three km to exercise franchise during the elections.

Nahan, January 30
Allotment of the BJP ticket for the forthcoming Assembly elections for all five seats in the district has invited sharp reactions from rival BJP groups and ticket-seekers have decided to contest against party candidates. There is a revolt-like situation in Nahan, Shilai and Renuka units of the BJP.

‘Daughter of Nahan’ Kumari Shyama Sharma has resigned as Vice-Chairperson of the HP Planning Board after the allotment of the ticket to Mr Chander Mohan Thakur, Sirmour Zila Parishad Chairman. “She will have to fight for her survival in politics,” a close confidant of Ms Sharma told this correspondent.

Ms Sharma addressed a workers’ meeting at her house, which was attended by 18 panchayat presidents and about 500 party workers. It was decided at the meeting that she should contest the elections. She said she would announce her decision at a press conference tomorrow. She hinted that her confidants might contest all five seats in the district.

In ticket allotment, the Shyama Sharma group had been wiped out. Mr Roop singh from Renuka and Mr Jagat Singh Negi from Shilai were denied the BJP ticket.

Four BJP workers belonging to the Chander Mohan were given the tickets. The supporters of Mr Jagat Singh Negi were hopeful that Mr Shanta Kumar would get the ticket for Mr Negi, but this did not happen. The ticket was allotted to Mr Daleep Singh Tomar.

Mr Mohinder Singh, former PWD Minister and President of the Himachal Loktantrik Morcha, is in town and has discussed the political situation with Ms Shyama Sharma. The result of the discussions is likely to be announced tomorrow.

Sources close to Ms Sharma said she had been contacted by Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav, Samajwadi Party President, and Mr Kanshi Ram, BJP supremo, to float a front of ‘secular forces’. Supporters of Ms Sharma appealed to the BJP high command to review its decision and allot the party ticket to her.

Shimla
With dissidence haunting the BJP and the Congress, the two main contenders for power, and the Himachal Vikas Congress (HVC) struggling to retain its identity as the third political force, the election scene in the hill state has become hazy as never before.

Infighting in political parties has, over the years, become an integral part of politics. However, it is for the first time that the factional divide in the two parties occupying the centrestage has assumed such proportions. The dissidents in the BJP, who have been carrying out their activities in the garb of “Mitra Milans”, have declared their intentions to contest as Independents. Their ranks are likely to swell after the allotment of party tickets.

Given the differences between the Congress factions headed by Mrs Vidya Stokes and Mr Virbhadra Singh, a large number of Congressmen are likely to enter the electoral arena as rebels.

The HVC had been desperately seeking an alliance with either the BJP or the Congress, but the two parties refused to oblige. It is now trying to raise a third front along with Left parties and other splinter groups to challenge the two main contenders. It is likely to adopt potential rebel candidates to effectively dent their vote bank. The non-BJP and non-Congress parties have been in disarray and it will not be an easy task for the HVC to bring them under one umbrella, though there may be a broad understanding to ensure the defeat of the BJP in as many seats as possible.

Himachal Pradesh remained an impregnable bastion of the Congress until 1977, when the Janata wave swept it out of power. There was no organised opposition to pose a serious challenge to the congress until then, though a large number of Independents got elected during every election. It was only after 1966, when the hilly areas of Punjab were merged into Himachal Pradesh, that the Jan Sangh appeared on the scene, winning seven seats in 1967. The CPI also bagged two seats. However, in 1972, the Congress against swept to power. The Congress citadel was finally demolished by the Janata wave in 1977.

The end of Congress hegemony also led to the emergence of a two-party system as the Janata Party and the Congress polled 57.19 and 38.38 per cent of votes, respectively, and the CPM and CPI together secured only about two per cent votes.

The Congress staged a comeback in the 1980 Lok Sabha poll, winning all four seats with 52.88 per cent votes as against 36.38 per cent polled by the Janata Party. The split in the Janata Party led to the emergence of the BJP as the main opposition in the state. It won 29 seats with 35.15 per cent of votes, while the Congress only got 31 seats despite a vote share of 42.52 per cent and failed to get a clear majority. The Janata Party, the CPI and the CPM accounted for eight per cent of votes.

Riding the sympathy wave in the wake of Indira Gandhi’s assassination, the Congress swept the 1984 Lok Sabha elections winning all four seats with a record 67.58 per cent votes. The BJP’s percentage declined to 23.27. Taking advantage of the swing in its favour, the Congress went for a snap Assembly poll and obtained a massive majority, winning 58 out of the total 68 seats. The BJP’s tally was reduced to seven.

The BJP wrested three of the four seats in the 1989 Lok Sabha elections. It polled a higher percentage of votes than the Congress for the first time in the state. Subsequently, the BJP-Janata Dal combine routed the Congress in the 1990 Assembly poll, in which the Congress won only nine seats. The BJP won 48 seats and the Janata Dal 11. In the 1991 Lok Sabha elections, the two parties shared the four seats, although the Congress polled 46.16 per cent votes, about 3.5 per cent more than the BJP.

The Congress returned to power with a thumping majority in 1993, winning 54 seats. The BJP won only eight and its vote share declined to 36.18 per cent. The Congress made a clean sweep of the four Lok Sabha seats in the 1996 elections, improving its vote percentage to 54.33 from 49.36 in 1993.

The emergence of the Himachal Vikas Congress, a breakaway faction of the Congress, added a new dimension to the political scene in 1998.

The HVC won only five seats, but ensured the defeat of the Congress in another 14 seats. The Congress and the BJP won 31 seats each. The Congress secured 43.51 per cent of votes, the BJP 39.03 per cent and the HVC 9.63 per cent.

These election will be a litmus test for Mr Sukh Ram, HVC supremo. The outcome of the poll will also make it clear whether the state has entered an era of coalition politics or the emergence of the HVC as the third political force in 1998 elections was an aberration.

Shimla, January 30
Launching a fresh attack on Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, the state BJP said today that a leader whose own conduct had not been above board had no moral right to level charges against Chief Minister P.K. Dhumal.

Mr Baldev Sharma, the party spokesperson, claimed here today that the family of Capt Amarinder Singh was in possession of encroached government land in Himachal. In all the family had encroached upon 2 bighas and 13 biswas of land in Kandiali and Kandaghat. The land was in the name of Mrs Preneet Kaur, wife of Captain Amarinder Singh, and an application had also been filed for regularisation of the encroached land under a new policy of the government.

He said Captain Amarinder Singh had alleged that Mr Dhumal had amassed assets to the tune of several crores in Jalandhar. However, he had so far not responded to the offer of Mr Dhumal that he was prepared to part with his assets for just Rs 1 crore. He said Captain Amarinder Singh should either accept the offer or withdraw the charges of corruption against Mr Dhumal. Such leaders should not even talk of cleansing public life.

Mr Sharma refuted the allegation of senior Congress leader Kaul Singh that doctors had been appointed from outside the state and urged him to come out with the list of such appointees or apologise for making a false charge failing which the party would be constrained to initiate legal proceeding against him.

Regarding the dissolution of the Assembly he said the step was taken to ensure a free and fair poll in the state. The Congress had been repeatedly accusing that government machinery was being misused and it had even demanded the removal of the Chief Electoral Officer. With the House already dissolved the ruling party and the Opposition would fight the elections on a level playing field.

Shimla, January 30
The Himachal Vikas Congress (HVC) has urged the Election Commission to hold elections in three tribal constituencies along with the rest of the state.

In a letter to the commission, Dr Ram Lal Markandey, a senior party leader who represents a tribal constituency, said there was no justification for deferring polling in the Bharmaur, Lahaul-Spiti and Kinnaur constituencies till June on the plea that these areas were snowbound during winter as classes were being held in schools.

Kangra, January 30
The All-India Hindu Mahasabha has decided to contest 20 seats in the state during the forthcoming assembly poll which include five in Kangra district followed by four in Bilaspur district.

Disclosing this here yesterday, the HP state chief of the All-India Hindu Mahasabha, Mr Nalinder Gautam, said in Kangra district, his party would contest from Kangra, Jaswan, Nagrota Bagwan, Dharamsala and Palampur. He said in Hamirpur district the party would field candidates from the Hamirpur and Nadaun Assembly segments.

Sundernagar, January 30
BSP chief Kanshi Ram interviewed 20 aspirants for the tickets from Mandi and Kulu districts on Thursday. He conducted similar interviews of candidates at Amb in Una Distt on Wednesday. State BSP chief Balwant Singh said the BSP chief would conduct similar interview at Solan on Friday.

Dharamsala, January 30
Trained nurses alleged that despite assurances the state government had denied them job opportunities. They held a demonstration today.

Braving the rain, the trained nurses shouting anti-Dhumal and anti-government slogans, marched in procession and went to submit a
memorandum to the Deputy Commissioner of Kangra. According to them, they were assured jobs in three months of the completion of training, but now the government had gone back on its promise and they were being asked to join work with a private agency on contract. They alleged that the private company was charging heavy commission from the state government and putting several unreasonable restrictions on those given jobs.

Kangra, January 30
A schoolteacher was killed on the spot and another person was seriously injured when their Maruti van collided with a parked tanker at Jhool village last night, the police said here today.

Deputy Superintendent of Police Umapati Jamwal said that the deceased had been identified as Puran Chand of Rajool village and the injured as Ajay Kumar. Ajay Kumar was shifted to CMC, Ludhiana, in a serious condition.

Shimla, January 30
Tributes were paid to the martyrs on the death anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi throughout the state. A two-minute silence was observed in all offices at 11 a.m. in memory of those who laid down their lives for the country. Dr Suraj Bhan, Governor, laid wreath at the statue of Mahatma Gandhi at Ridge. Mr Roop Dass Kashyap, Minister of State for Urban Development, Mr Sohan Lal, Mayor, Mr A.K. Puri, Director-General of Police, Mr J.S. Rana, Deputy Commissioner, Shimla, Mr Pradeep Kumar, SP, and other officers paid floral tributes to the Father of Nation.

Nurpur, January 30
The Executive Engineer, Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board, Nurpur Division, said here today that instructions had been given to issue bills to consumers for the month of January wherein winter surcharge levied inadvertently would be adjusted.

Vidya Sagar awaits OBC nodKANGRA: Former Himachal Pradesh Agriculture Minister Vidya Sagar, who has been denied the BJP ticket from Kangra and replaced by Zila Parishad chief Rattan Jagatamba, said on Thursday that Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal had accepted his resignation and denied him the ticket as the latter had demanded 27 per cent reservation for the OBC community in the state, besides seeking development of Kangra constituency. He said he might contest the assembly poll from Kangra if asked to do so by the OBC community.
OC

Narendra launches campaignHAMIRPUR: Mr Narendra Thakur, a former Hamirpur district BJP chief and now a prominent “Mittar Milan” leader of the state, launched his election campaign for the Hamirpur Assembly seat on Wednesday evening. Accompanied by his supporters he visited various parts of the town on Wednesday and Thursday and sought blessings for him. He will contest the poll as an Independent candidate.
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Claim staked to Kumarsain seatSHIMLA: Mr Pramod Sharma, a former AICC spokesman and a staunch Virbhadra Singh loyalist, has urged the Congress high command not to allow PCC chief Vidya Stokes, to shift from Theog to Kumarsain as it would harm the party’s electoral prospects. Staking claim to the party ticket from Kumarsain, he said there was no justification for Mrs Stokes to relinquish Theog which she nursed for 30 years as the electorate would feel cheated. He gave ample indications about his intention to
con3test as an Independent.
TNS

Mr. Parmod Sharma addresses a press
conference at Shimla.

YC threat to gherao officialsNURPUR: HP Youth Congress vice-president Baldev ‘Pappi’and PCC delegate Ajay Mahajan on Thursday took exception to officials of Public Works, Irrigation-cum-Public Health Departments and Block Development for behaving like BJP agents in the Nurpur Assembly segment. They warned such officials that Congress activists would gherao and hold demonstrations against them if they did not stop working as puppets of local BJP MLA Rakesh Pathania.
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Jaswan BJP chief threatens to quitDHARAMSALA: Mandal president of the Jaswan unit of the BJP, Mr Kush Raj, has threatened to resign in protest against the nomination of Mr Vikram Singh as party candidate from the constituency. In a statement, Mr Kush Raj has alleged that the high command has ignored his 16-year association with the party. He has received the support of a number of BJP workers of Jaswan, which is represented by Congress MLA, Ms Viplove Thakur.
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